


Lights Out

by Juli



Series: Days of Summer [13]
Category: Poltergeist: The Legacy
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2012-08-15
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juli/pseuds/Juli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek comes home to find the lights dark and Nick dealing with it in his own way. . .</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lights Out

**Author's Note:**

> Counting down the days of summer with a ficlet a day in August.

“You sure about this, sir?” 

Derek rolled down the window of his car so that he could answer the ferry boat operator. “Quite sure, thank you. I hope you have a safe trip back to the mainland.”

The other man looked at the water, which was still choppy, and then up to the sky. “The storm’s over, it’s just the clean-up now.” He nodded his head towards the island. “Looks mighty dark, I think you’ve lost power.”

Derek grimaced. “It happens. I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thank you for your concern.”

The ferryman shrugged. “You folks are good customers, just looking out for you.”

With a final word of thanks, Derek drove his sedan over the ramp that ran from the boat to the dock. He’d done this countless times, but didn’t resent the extra trouble. The residents of the Legacy House were, unfortunately, at the mercy of the weather’s capriciousness, but that inconvenience paled in comparison to the privacy they gained.

It remained dark even as Derek approached the mansion; the power was indeed out. Derek had lived in the castle-like building for a very long time, however, and had no trouble parking the car or navigating his way into the house. Once there, he heard the thrum of a generator, but front of the house was completely dark. Nick must be powering the only the essential house functions, like the security system. The sconces in the hallway had a few lit candles, enough that Derek could see his way to the kitchen, where a stronger glow emitted. 

“Nick?” Derek called out as he neared the room. It was never a good idea to sneak up on an ex-Navy SEAL.  
“In here.” 

Nick’s voice sounded oddly muffled and Derek grew concerned. The house wasn’t just a house – it was a Legacy House. A power outage had the possibility of being caused by something a lot less benign than a simple thunderstorm. He put his long legs to good use and lengthened his stride in order to get to the kitchen more quickly.

Once he got there and got a good look at what awaited him, Derek immediately relaxed.

“What are you doing?” He laughed softly as he came into the room, which was lit by nearly a dozen candles scattered across every surface.

It was an unnecessary question; it was obvious what he was doing. Nick was seated at the large table, several open cartons in front of him. The young man had a large spoon and was taking turns dipping it from one carton to another. Nick’s voice hadn’t been muffled because he was in trouble; it was muffled because it was full ice cream.

“Couldn’t let this stuff go to waste,” Nick explained as he licked the spoon clean. 

Derek crossed the room and cupped the back of Nick’s head with one hand. He bent for a quick kiss, licking his lips afterwards to determine what the flavor was. “Mmmm. . . strawberry.”

Nick grinned. “Wanna join me?” He smiled wider as Derek pulled up a chair and accepted an extra spoon, but waited until Derek had taken his first bite of ice cream before he said any more. “I’m glad you made it home tonight, I was worried that you’d have to bunk down on the mainland.”

It happened often enough that the Legacy kept an apartment in San Francisco. Derek, however, was shaking his head even before Nick finished speaking.

“Not an option, not with you here.” He stated firmly. Derek looked around the kitchen in belated surprise. He’d been so focused on Nick that he hadn’t realized that no one else was around. “Where is everyone?”

Nick dug into the nearest carton, this one contained chocolate. “Fredrick left a few hours ago; he had something going on tonight and couldn’t risk getting stuck here.” Derek was mildly surprised, Fredrick was a dedicated butler. If he’d asked for time off, it must have been for something important. “Alex went to Loyola for a school reunion and Rachel stayed on the mainland. Kat has a dance recital tonight.”

That last gave Derek pause; Nick adored Kat and liked to support the little girl whenever he could. “And you had to stay here to watch the house.”

“I don’t mind.” Nick shrugged, very carefully not looking at Derek. “Was kinda hoping you’d come home.”

Derek didn’t need psychic powers to interpret that statement. “I missed you too.”

The two men kissed again, with a little more heat than the first time. When Derek pulled back, he started talking, filling Nick in on the details of the conference he’d been attending. It had been a full week and, instead of lingering over the dry academic sessions, Derek instead focused on the lighter aspects of his trip. By the time he was done describing the different personalities, Nick was laughing along with him.

“I should have known you professor types still had a lot of juice left in you.” Nick wiped his eyes after laughing himself to tears over Derek’s story of how his nemesis had gotten into all sorts of trouble when he brought his mistress instead of his wife to the conference.

“I should hope so,” Derek replied with mock stiffness. “After all, I show you my juice on a regular basis.”

Nick eyed him up and down slowly. “Yeah, you do.”

Derek didn’t so much as ignore the blatant ogling, but told himself that he’d respond later. It was important to him that Nick knew that he was an important part of Derek’s whole life, not just his bed. “And how was your week?”

Nick followed Derek’s example and avoided talking about Legacy work; he’d kept Derek up to date with that via phone and email. Nick spoke of working on his car, tweaking the security system, and helping Kat with her homework. 

“You work too hard,” Derek was frowning by the time Nick finished his recitation of the week’s activities.

His comment got him a shrug from the younger man. “Just trying to keep myself busy.”

And not missing Derek so much.

Derek resolved then and there to take Nick with him the next time he had a conference to go to. Nick was an able second in command, but that didn’t mean it was fair to leave him with all of the House responsibilities while Derek was gone.

“You should have seen the look on Alex’s face when she saw the size of that spider.” Nick had moved on to talking about the maintenance of the House’s grounds. “That woman can face down demon and not a -. . . .”

Nick suddenly broke off with his story and grimaced, dropping his ice cream spoon and rubbing his temple.

Derek rose out of his chair. “Nick, are you all right?”

“Just an ice cream headache.” Nick gave Derek a rueful look. “I should have known better.”

Smiling at his how foolishly overprotective he’d been acting, Derek put a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Come, a shower will help your headache; we should have one while there’s still warm water.”

“Dr. Rayne,” Nick’s eyes sparkled. Evidentially, ice cream headaches didn’t last long. “Are you suggesting we share a shower?”

Derek kissed him. “Showering by candlelight is an experience I would enjoying sharing with you.”

“And maybe other activities by candlelight?” Nick asked.

“I believe that can be arranged.” Derek stood back as Nick got to his feet. He left the younger man standing by the table as he moved around the kitchen, snuffing out all the candles but one. The one he’d chosen was in a base that was easy to carry. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Nick leaned into Derek as the taller man put his hand on the small of his back, ushering him from the room.

Just as they reached the door of the kitchen, the room suddenly became full of light. The power had returned.  
“Just our luck,” Nick sighed.

“On the contrary.” Derek reached out and flicked a switch. Just as suddenly, the lights were out again. “I believe we have a shower waiting for us.”

Nick laughed out loud. “I believe we did.”

The two lovers headed for their shared bedroom. If there were any more power fluctuations during the night, they were too wrapped up in one another to notice.

~the end~


End file.
